Phoenix Wright: The Relinquished Turnabout
by Kokuten Senja
Summary: Set Five years after Wright's final case as a Defense Attorney, The Relinquished Turnabout attempts to explore what may have happened in the Seven year gap between "Trials and Tribulations" and "Appollo Justice".
1. Chapter 1

The weather had been particularly terrible in California that month of April in 2024. As uncommon as bad weather was in Los Angles, today it was raining hard. However, that wasn't making anybody lose sleep at the Wright family home that morning. Until the phone rang that is. Phoenix was jolted awake as he heard the familiar (and loud) Silver Samurai theme that he had used for his cellphone's ringtone for the last ten years. He looked at the time. His digital alarm clock read 6:17am. He got out of bed and grabbed his cellphone from the pocket of his jacket. He didn't recognize the number on his phone's caller display at first. It was no wonder why, he hadn't received a call from it in almost five years. It was the number from the Detention Center.

"I thought I asked you guys to throw out my number years ago." Phoenix said in a slightly raspy voice. "I apologize Mr. Wright, but we have someone in our custody who specially requested that we contact you." the receptionist from the Detention Center said. Phoenix sighed "I guess they haven't heard the news then. I haven't been an attorney for almost five years now."

It was no secret. In 2019, Phoenix Wright, the legendary defence attorney had taken a case where he had unwittingly presented forged evidence. The trial came to an abrupt end as the defendant disappeared, and in a hearing that followed, Wright had been found responsible for the forged evidence and he had been disbarred.

"We know Mr. Wright, and we told them that, but they insisted that you come and visit them."

Phoenix sighed again. Although he had only been an attorney for four years, Wright had seen reasonable success in the field of Law. He had won almost every case he had ever taken, and he had brought some of the most villainous murderers in the world to justice. He was actually very tempted to go to the detention center. He cared little about whom the person summoning him may be, but visiting a familiar location and seeing old faces he once knew would definitely be nostalgic, and it'd be worth the trip just for that. But as much as he missed the trials and the investigations, Phoenix reminded himself that he wasn't a lawyer anymore, and that part of his life was behind him. He felt that the mystery of who this detainee is was one better left unsolved.

"I'm sorry but I'm a busy man." Phoenix lied. "Whoever it is you have down there, I doubt I'll be any help to them. Have a nice day."

Phoenix ended the call before the other person could reply. He then turned off his phone to prevent any more unwanted calls and placed it on his desk. He sat on his bed and thought about things. _I may not be a lawyer anymore, but my career as an attorney is going to follow me for the rest of my life isn't it?_He was sure that it would. But he drifted into a deep sleep before he consider weather or not he wanted it to.

The question never occurred to him again when he awoke later that morning. Much like a dream you've had after you've woken up, Wright's recollection of what had happened in the middle of the night was hazy. He hadn't even checked his phone's call history yet to confirm weather or not it had been a dream altogether, so at the moment he wasn't very concerned.

Wright's morning felt extremely normal as he completed his daily chores at home. It was noon by the time he arrived at the downtown office for the _Wright Talent Agency_. "Hi Daddy!" the voice of a young girl said as he opened the door. Welcoming Phoenix was Trucy.

Trucy Wright was Phoenix's daughter, whom he had adopted 5 years ago. Trucy was always at the office before Phoenix was, since she practically owned the agency. While she was only 13 years old, she was a very talented professional stage magician. Thus after Phoenix's disbarment, she had turned the _Wright & Co. Law Offices_ into a talent agency, and would use her skills with magic to hold performances for money. These days, Phoenix worked as an entertainer at a local Russian restaurant called _The Borsht Bowl Club_, where he played piano and took up challenges at poker, and he remained undefeated. Today however was the 17th of April, a Wednesday, and he had the day off.

"Morning Trucy-doll!" Phoenix said. Trucy went back to cleaning her props she used for stage magic as Phoenix walked into the office. He filled his mug with coffee and sat on one of the two red couches in the center of the room. Wright always drank his coffee black. The drink always reminded him of a few cases he had worked on in his final years as an attorney.

"I think I'm going to go take my lunch break Dad, do you want me to get you anything while I'm out?" Trucy asked. "No thanks, I had some ramen from Eldoon's noodle cart on my way to the office." Phoenix said. "Okay, look after the office while I'm gone alright?" "Sure thing Trucy."

About ten minutes later Phoenix had just finished his coffee when the office door opened again. "Welcome ba-" Phoenix stopped himself mid-sentence as he turned to face the office door, expecting Trucy. The newcomer however was a young girl, wearing a schoolgirl's uniform instead of Trucy's trademark blue top-hat and cape. She was about Trucy's age, she had brown eyes and long light brown hair that she wore in a ponytail. She looked like she could be one of Trucy's friends.

"Oh, I'm afraid Trucy's out at the moment. You may want to come back in about an hour or so..." he said. "What? No...I mean..." the young girl said, flustered and confused "I'm sorry...but I'm looking for Phoenix Wright." "You've found him!" Phoenix said, and then questioned why on earth a young girl like this would be looking for him. The young girl seemed quite taken aback by this, gasping and bringing her right hand to her face, eyes wide open. It was a mannerism that tugged at Phoenix's memory for some reason.

"I'm sorry! It's just...I didn't recognize you Mr. Nick!" Alarms went off in Phoenix's head as she called him that. _Mr. Nick? Who on earth used to call me that!_ "I'm sorry, but do I know you" Phoenix asked, as he looked over the girl's appearance more closely. Just then he noticed a detail that he would recognize anywhere. Underneath the bow tie of the girl's uniform was a necklace that Phoenix had seen many times in his life. The charm was circular with a kind of a tail at the bottom, and it had a hole through the center. It looked very much like one half of a yin-yang. It was a Magatama. And this one was blue.

"Pearls?" Phoenix asked.

The girl pounced onto Phoenix and hugged him. "I've missed you so much Phoenix!" Pearl said, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. "It's good to see you too Pearls..." Pearl looked up at him, and Phoenix saw that she wasn't crying tears of joy. "What's wrong? Shouldn't you be happy to see me after so many years?" "I wish I could be happy Mr. Nick..." Pearl croaked out, the sadness in her seeming to overwhelm her. "What is it? What's happened!"

"It's Mystic Maya, Mr. Nick... she's been arrested..."

Just then, Phoenix instantly remembered all that had happened in the middle of the night. And he was sure, with absolutely no doubt in his mind, that it hadn't been a dream.


	2. Chapter 2

Phoenix was now now hastily running down to the Detention Center. He had left a note for Trucy and had added the location of the building if she needed to find him. He doubted Trucy would need it though, the smart girl that she was.

Phoenix caught some strange looks from passersby as he ran down the street. This probably wasn't because of the abnormally fast velocity at which he was moving, because of the young girl hoisted up on his back holding on for her dear life. Phoenix had resorted to giving Pearl a piggy-back ride as she had been too exhausted to run on her own.

"How on earth did you get from the village to the city? You didn't walk the whole way again did you?" Phoenix asked, dodging other pedestrians. "Of course not! I ran!" Pearl said. _You haven't changed one bit Pearl!_ Phoenix thought to himself, thinking back to the case that had led him to meet her.

Soon they arrived at the Detention Center and Phoenix burst through the door. Both he and Pearl were soaked by the rain, and Phoenix decided to take off his grey hoodie. Pearl didn't seem concerned about her clothes, since she grabbed Phoenix's hand and guided him to the visiting area. Phoenix's heart was pounding in his chest. Although he wouldn't have admitted it, he was nervous. It had been a long time since he had last seen Maya. Unfortunately she wasn't present when they reached the visiting area, and a guard explained that she was currently in for questioning.

Phoenix decided that it would be best if they remained here and waited. It was the least he could do after completely rejecting Maya's first plea for help earlier that morning. Phoenix sighed, feeling painful regret. He decided he should stop thinking about it, so he switched his focus to asking Pearl what she knew.

"So what happened exactly? Can you tell me anything about it Pearls?" he asked.

"Well, I know she was arrested early this morning. I didn't even notice she was gone when I woke up. Then she called me just before I was going to leave for school. She said she'd been arrested and she told me to come to the city and find you. It's strange though... I mean I don't mind coming here given the situation, but you think she'd try to contact you first."

Phoenix's heart skipped a beat at the irony Pearl was unaware of, and restrained himself from yelling "HOLD IT!" to stop the girl from thinking about the matter any further. He was desperate to change the subject though.

"So...you go to school now?" Phoenix asked nervously. "Yes! I still practice my channelling from time to time, so my skills don't get rusty. But since I'm only 14 I'm not allowed to take on any professional work as a medium. And after I helped you two in some of your investigations, I really wanted to learn more about the outside world. So when I turned Twelve I asked Mystic Maya and she agreed to enrol me in a school close to the village!"

Pearl and Maya were both members of the Fey family, which had a long history dealing with the supernatural. It was common for female members of the family to possess the power to channel the spirits of the dead. The took on the roles of Spirit Mediums, and by employing the _Kurain Channelling Technique_, they allowed for people to commune with the dead. While some people regarded the entire thing as a sham, it was a phenomenon that proved essential many times over the course of Wright's law career, and Phoenix believed in it wholeheartedly.

Members of the family lived primarily in a small Japanese style village a few hours away from the city. Pearl's channelling skill was unmatched, and she had been raised at an early age by her mother to know almost nothing of life outside of the village. Fortunately this changed after she met Phoenix.

"I suppose Maya is the Kurain Master now isn't she?" he asked. "Yes, after her mother passed away she's been dedicated to improving her skills as a Medium. I'm really proud of her." Pearl said with a smile that Phoenix could tell wasn't false.

Pearl was Maya's cousin, and thus was a member of the Fey _Branch Family_. The Fey family was set up so that only members of the Main family (the Master's family) could ever succeed as the next Master, and any relatives of the Main Family were considered Branch Families. Members of a Branch Family could never hope to become the Master unless the Main Family was wiped out. And it almost had been. Maya was the last remaining member of the Main Family, and Phoenix had foiled multiple plots to "remove" her. It begs the question if the Fey clan's ancestors _deliberately_ structured their clan's hierarchy to promote hatred, jealousy, and infighting. Fortunately Pearl adored Maya, and Phoenix had been fairly confident after the last time that Maya's birthright was safe. At the moment, he was praying that whatever had happened to Maya today, it wasn't related to her status as Master.

Phoenix was deep in thought about this when he was interrupted by a different female voice. "There you are! I've been looking for you!" Phoenix turned and looked. It wasn't Maya who had spoken, but Trucy, standing there with her arms crossed. "Gah! Trucy! I'm sorry for leaving the office without any notice, it was kind of an emergency..." Phoenix explained.

"Do you know her Mr. Nick?" Pearl asked, a quizzical look on her face. "I'm his daughter!" Trucy replied. Phoenix predicted what was going to happen next, but unfortunately he was unable to dodge. Pearl slapped Phoenix across the face hard enough to send him off the couch and onto the lobby floor. "Mr. Nick how could you betray Maya like that! I know it's been a few years since you've seen each other but... wait a minute..." Pearl said as she realized that it would have been impossible for Phoenix to have a daughter in the five years they had been out of contact.

"I'm adopted." Trucy said casually to clear up Pearl's confusion. Now it was her turn for answers. "Daddy, do you know this girl?"

Phoenix looked up to see both of them starting down at him, waiting for answers.

~Court Record~ (Because "Author's Notes" just sounds boring)

Hey guys! Kokuten here! I wanted to say Thanks for the few reviews that my story has received so far, I couldn't have asked for a warmer welcome to this site. Hopefully it didn't feel like the mood shifted too much in this chapter. I know a lot of Phoenix Wright fans will have found this chapter boring because of the backstory, and for that I apologize. I just felt like I needed to give this information, since the story is going to be dealing heavily with characters and events from the first three games (if you hadn't surmised that already). I promise that no chapter after this will have this much backstory in it. If you're interested in reading my story, and you HAVEN'T played any of them yet, I highly recommend that you do so, since me writing backstory is no kind of substitute for experiencing them for yourself. (The first game is available on iPhone for $5. Just saying)

Anyways, I haven't started writing Chapter 3 yet, but I assure you that this has merely been the calm before the storm, and next time things will much more serious.


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